Posted on 06/21/2007 6:12:24 AM PDT by GMMAC
Americans in Canada prefer U.S. health care
Joanne Laucius, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, June 21, 2007
OTTAWA -- Americans living in Canada prefer the U.S. health-care system for speed, quality and diagnostic technology, says a new study. But they also applaud the equity and cost-effectiveness of Canada's system. And in the final analysis, 40 per cent prefer the Canadian system.
The study, released yesterday in the online medical journal Open Medicine, was based on the responses of 310 Americans living in Canada between two and five years, mostly in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.
There have been many studies that compare the two health-care systems, but this is likely the first time the Canadian and U.S. systems have been compared based on the perceptions of consumers who have experienced both.
"It's a good test of the Canadian health-care system," said lead researcher Steven Lewis, a health policy analyst and an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary.
The respondents were invited to participate through newspaper advertisements because there is no database of Americans living in Canada. Of the respondents, more than half had a household income of more than $100,000 a year, and 58 per cent had a master's degree or higher. In a survey of this size, there is a margin of error between four and five per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Overall, the Americans said they preferred the U.S. system for emergency, specialist, hospital and diagnostic services, and said they preferred the timeliness and quality of the American system.
However, they also rated Canada's system high for access to drug therapy and ranked the services of family physicians almost equally in both countries. They also rated the equity and cost efficiency of Canada's system highly.
The participants were upper middle-class, mostly the kind of people likely to be well-insured in the U.S., said Lewis.
"They had high expectations of health care in Canada," he said. "I was surprised by they solidarity they showed for the Canadian system. Even their praise of the American system was qualified. They said, 'Yes, it is good. But it is expensive, and not everyone has access.' "
In all, 260 of the Americans identified wait times as the most significant negative feature of the Canadian system, while 192 identified quality of care as the most positive feature of the U.S. system.
In all, 196 of the Americans said cost efficiency was the best thing about the Canadian system, while 223 said cost inefficiency was the worst thing about the U.S. system.
"Both systems are flawed and have equal pros and cons. Access to everyday care and preventative care is better in the U.S. However, not having to pay out of pocket for specialists and serious illnesses is a big plus in Canada," said one participant.
Meanwhile, 32 per cent also noted that while they lived in the U.S., health insurance concerns affected their decisions about where to look for a job, and 29 per cent said it influenced decisions about whether to remain at a workplace.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007
I experienced a Candian hospital on vacation - I was suffering from what I suspected was gout. They did a blood test and the doctor said it couldn’t be gout because my uric acid was normal. When I went to see my family doctor with the results he told me that they had not even TESTED my uric acid. My doctor did, it was very high and I indeed had gout. Oh, but the Candian hospital was very inexpensive by American standards. Not worth a damn, but cheap.
I love the talk about wait times whenever this topic comes up....
I’ve seen wait times of 9-10 months in the US in several states for treatment that we’re supposed to be horrified takes 40 weeks to get in Canada....
Hmmmm...
Most of my parent’s family lives in Cape Breton.
Their biggest beef is not the wait, it’s that they have to travel to Halifax for most of the high tech treatments and procedures.
Not that that is much different here, I’m fortunate that I live in Massachusetts but I liken there situation to folks in Vermont of northern NH who must travel to Boston for the same technology.
I don't believe you have "seen" this. Based on my many years of seeking treatment for my family and multiple family members, this does not happen. I think you simply made this up.
I most certainly have.
Even at what was supposed to be one of the best hospitals in the country, I have seen excruciatingly long waits.
Some treatments I have seen VERY speedy service for. But if it isn’t deemed urgent, you can be up a creek in many locations. Injure your back and end up in pain but able to walk? I’ve seen waits of 4 weeks to get an MRI, with the doctors telling you to just take ibuprofen. Break a leg and have it heal improperly? I’ve seen waits of almost a year before they’ll do surgery to rebreak it and fix it. Now if you walked into the parking lot, got hit by a car and it was rebroken then, you’d be in luck.
Sample size is too small, note that they did not ask people outside urban centers.
I’d suggest you move. My son went to a clinic with severe back problems. On the MRI table within 2 hours on the operating table before midnight and out of the hospital in 3 days.
And I forgot...he didn’t have a job or insurance at the time.
I think you’re right about that - even in the states, you often have to travel to get to the best high-tech treatments. I’ve known people to travel to cross-country here just to reach treatment...
Here’s something interesting to consider.... In 1998, the US spent an average of $4,178 per person in health care. For this, we got an infant mortality rate significantly higher than all of Western Europe, Australia and Canada, and a satisfaction rate of just 40% (and the cost keeps going up and satisfaction keeps going down). Meanwhile, Denmark spent an average of $2,133 per person and had a 91% satisfaction rate.
There are plenty of countries we can learn a thing or two from to improve our system.
I’ve heard it argued that the infant mortality rate is higher because of the higher number of abortions in Europe. They actually get born here.
And I’m sure some places you get fast treatment. But we don’t always have an option of moving. Besides, there are a half dozen hospitals around me now, and they’re all slow, and one is rated in the top 10 in the nation. See a problem here?
Besides, it isn’t like ALL hospitals in Canada end up with long waits. Some in Alberta have acheived wait times for hip transplants that most in the US can’t even seem to dream of approaching. Just like not all hospitals in the US leave people on the floor of the emergency room vomiting blood....
Fear not! Canada care is just around the corner then we can all be happy.
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